Many electronic apparatuses, such as a laptop PC, a cellular phone, etc., employ a switch device as an input button. A metal dome switch device, for example, uses two fixed contacts arranged on a substrate so as to be apart from each other, and a metal dome to serve as a movable contact. The metal done is elastically deformed by its depression operation in order to make the two fixed contacts conductive therebetween.
In the above-mentioned switch device, collisions between metals occur between the metal dome inverted by being elastically deformed when the switch is turned on, and each fixed contact can generate a loud collision sound. The loud sound is typically not a problem when an electronic apparatus is being used at home or the like, but it may become a problem when the electronic apparatus is being used in a public place such as a library, a coffee shop, etc.
Thus, it would be desirable to reduce the collision sound of a switch device, especially when the switch device is being used as a detection switch for a key operation of a keyboard and a detection switch for a depression operation of a clickable touch pad because the usage frequency of detection switches is generally quite high.